Allow me to publicize a stunning, little-watched 5-minute YouTube video I came across a couple of days ago. The video consists of a series of still visuals to accompany the final chorale of a Bach cantata, BWV 11: Lobet Gott in Seinen Reichen, itself no "smash hit" in the broader culture.
The cantata is about the longing of the Soul for the Divine; it extensively uses Christian language and concepts, as nearly all Bach's choral work does. If you aren't Christian, or if you aren't religious, let's hope you also don't speak German. Then the chorale's overtly religious words shouldn't distract you.
Enjoy the universality of the visuals, and the sublime music. If you listen, the melody incorporates a repeated run of notes, a leitmotif, to suggest otherworldly splendor. The pictures don't rely on overtly religious themes to make their point...and, in this dark time of year, what a "point" it is.
How I wish I could embed a video in this diary. I tried, pasting in the coding around somebody else's successful embed, and failed. So, a link to YouTube will have to suffice.
Enjoy.
And Happy Holidays to all reading this.